Kohl’s Is Now Reversing Controversial Policy At Its Stores In Minnesota

It was a policy Kohl's put in place several years ago, but it appears that the company will soon be reversing this controversial regulation at its stores here in Minnesota and across the country.

It's no secret that these are challenging times for traditional brick-and-mortar retail stores. Many once-profitable brands, like Sears and J.C. Penney, have had difficulties keeping their retail stores open and have faced bankruptcy. Even the storied Macy's brand announced earlier this year that it would be closing 66 stores across the country.

To help its bottom line, Kohl's said back in January that it would be shutting the doors permanently at 27 different locations this spring. A release from the Kohl's Corporation, which opened its first store in Brookfield, Wisconsin, in 1962, said the stores marked for closing had been 'underperforming' and were all shuttered back in April.

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And now, during a recent investors' earnings call, Kohl's leaders announced that in another effort to boost sales, they will be putting an end to a policy that has been in place for nearly 5 years-- and it's a change that Kohl's shoppers in Minnesota will no doubt like.

Kohl's is, of course, a big national retailer and currently operates around 1,150 stores across the country, including 29 locations here in the North Star State. You can find a Kohl's store in the following Minnesota cities:

• Alexandria
• Apple Valley
• Baxter
• Bemidji
• Blaine
• Bloomington
• Burnsville
• Cambridge
• Chaska
• Coon Rapids
• Cottage Grove
• Duluth
• Eagan
• Eden Prairie
• Lino Lakes
• Mankato
• Maple Grove
• Maplewood
• Oak Park Heights
• Owatonna
• Plymouth
• Rochester
• Rogers
• Roseville
• Shakopee
• St Louis Park
• Waite Park
• Willmar
• Woodbury

So if you regularly shop at any of the Minnesota Kohl's locations, just which policy is changing? According to this U.S. Sun story via Newsbreak, it's Kohl's coupon policy, which Kohl's CFO Jill Timm said will be expanding to include more brands.

In addition to offering its 'Kohl's Cash' program, the store is famous for its coupons that offer 20, 30, and even 40 percent off your sale. However, many of the popular name brands Kohl's sells were 'exclusions,' meaning those coupons didn't apply to them. But now, that policy is apparently changing:

'We are bringing products back into the coupon, so we do think being more promotional and having value orientation throughout the year is gonna be important, particularly because the middle-income customer that we serve is pretty stretched in today’s environment,' Till said in the story.

The story didn't say when this policy reversal is set to take effect, or how many new products and brands could be included.

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Kohl's also made news earlier in March when it said it's ending a partnership it first unveiled back in 2017: Accepting Amazon returns. A story in The Street noted that Kohl's first started its agreement with Amazon as a way to increase customers at its store locations. It expanded that service to nearly every store location across the country in 2019.

But The Street said that Kohl's associates in three locations in Leominster, Massachusetts; Washington, Missouri; and Eau Claire, Wisconsin, have confirmed that their stores are no longer accepting Amazon returns. However, The Street also quoted a Kohl's spokesperson who said that change is just a test-- at least for right now, anyway.

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